From new oak to biodynamic plans, Commercial Manager Emma Pook visited Château Rives-Blanques in Limoux to see what’s changing.
An early start on a Tuesday in September saw a 4-strong team from Tanners depart from a chilly, wet Manchester and arrive in a rather brown, parched Carcassonne, before a short onward journey to the considerably greener Limoux region.
The main aim of our visit was to discover what’s new at Château Rives-Blanques, a stalwart Tanners supplier of more than 20 years, where we originally dealt with Caryl and Jan Panman and more latterly with Pierre Bories. Pierre bought the estate from the Panmans in 2022, following an approach from them, whilst they contemplated their succession plans, ahead of their well-earned retirement.
Humble and warm, Pierre Bories is, first and foremost, a winemaker and organic viticulturist, as well as elected president of the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Languedoc (their aim is to unite the region's appellations of origin (AOC) and boost export market share). He’s also found the time to set up Artisans Partisans – an umbrella brand built to advocate for smaller, independent vignerons across the Languedoc – a busy man indeed and extremely well-connected!
Image: Château Rives-Blanques sign
Birthplace of Blanquette
Having been given a quick tour and a spot of lunch upon arrival at the Château itself by our very knowledgeable ex-pat liaison, Leila Killoran, we were whisked to nearby Saint Hilaire, the birthplace of Blanquette, for a history lesson. According to oral tradition, the Benedictine monks residing in the abbey at Saint Hilaire invented the first sparkling wine in the world, the Blanquette, in 1531. Perhaps the most famous of his monastic peers, Dom Pierre Pérignon first tasted sparkling wine here when he visited on a pilgrimage decades later, before taking the idea back to Champagne.Traditionally made from entirely Mauzac grapes via the Ancestral Method, the finished product is essentially a pet nat. It stops fermenting around 6% ABV and is similar in style to Moscato – absolutely delicious, as we can attest to, when we enjoyed it in the courtyard overlooking the Saint Hilaire Abbey itself! The name Blanquette means ‘all white’ and refers to the white down that usually covers the Mauzac leaf.
‘Weather’ it be good or…
We wended our way back along the 3km of country lanes to the Château via the village of Pomas, which the locals have dubbed ‘Tornado Valley’ following the severe weather event on 23rd August this year. Several hundred homes were destroyed, but miraculously, given that we were very much in vine country, only a couple of rows of vines were wiped out.Witnessing the devastating aftermath, had us questioning Leila on measures Château Rives Blanques is taking to mitigate against the year-on-year temperature increases affecting the whole of France. She explained that regionally, winemaking is increasingly becoming a bit of a struggle, with vignerons being paid to rip out vines and move towards a more varied polyculture including kiwis, almonds, olives, pomegranates, peaches and persimmons. However, Château Rives-Blanques’ location, situated in the village of Cépie, 350m above sea level, in view of the Pyrenees (snow-capped until May!) is perhaps one of its saving graces. The big diurnal temperature differences here are great for the vines. Despite the hot summers, freshness is maintained due to the cool breeze at altitude.
Image: 3 year experiment of growing vines higher to create a canopy, providing more shade and decreasing the temperature by precisely 6 degrees.
In addition, they use agroforestry initiatives for controlling local moisture, wind and shade, and canopy management techniques are employed, removing less leaves in hot years, then leaf plucking just before harvest to ripen if necessary. In March this year, Pierre spent a quarter of a million euros on organic sheep manure to spread around the vines (after their own stock of manure burnt last summer!). This has helped retain moisture in the soil during the very long hot summer, so the vines haven’t suffered too much. There is also now a general practice across the Languedoc of removing grass between vines to help prevent the spread of wildfires.
Ringing the changes
On Wednesday, we did the touristy bit and nipped back in to Carcassonne, to visit the jewel in its crown, the bustling Château Comtal, before returning to the welcome peace and quiet of Cépie, to tour the Château Rives Blanques winery. The afternoon saw us complete a range tasting while discussing all the changes afoot...
Perhaps the most noticeable difference to the range is the change in oak! It is mandatory for AOP Limoux wines to have been aged in oak. Like seasoning, done well, judicious use of oak really elevates the wine; done badly, it can ruin it. Having tasted a raft of particularly enjoyable chardonnays at estates in Santa Maria and Monterey on his travels, Pierre asked which barrels they used, they were all unanimous, so an order was duly placed with the Burgundian cooperage in question, François Frères, and the excellent results of his investment are visible from the 2024 vintage (see the L’Eden and Tres Pech below). Alongside the standard 225L barrels, they’re also trialling two 4000L foudres.
Their flagship wine, the Blanquette de Limoux is made using 100% Mauzac with the Traditional method (as opposed to the Ancestral method previously mentioned). The fruit ripeness is so pronounced that zero dosage is required. The 2023 vintage sees an extension to the lees ageing from 18 to 24 months – a real step up for an already beautiful, dry sparkling that will serve you very well for your apéritif requirements this festive season.
In the vineyards, Pierre has undertaken a project with Chamber of Agriculture to grow new plantings of every clone of Mauzac (the grape used for their delicious Blanquette de Limoux). Meanwhile, the Chenin vines are currently being grubbed up in stages with the land being left fallow for two years to allow regeneration and time for the nematodes to die off. New rootstock will then be planted, allowing three years to bed in, before field-grafting the new scion/grape variety and a further two years wait before they’re able to harvest any usable fruit. This process takes longer than the normal approach to planting, but they find it gives a much better success rate long term.
Since taking over, Pierre has employed a fabulous young designer who has been tasked with modernising the labels; there’s now a wealth of consumer-friendly information on the back label, whilst the Rives Blanques front labels depict all of the vineyard’s plots with the ones that are picked from for that individual wine being raised to the touch.
Image: Tres Pech, Blanquette & L'Eden on the terrace at Chateau Rives-Blanques
Looking ahead
Longer term, plans have been submitted to rebuild the winery with European funding for tourism (with the hope of starting in 2027) including a glass panel in the wall at the end of the winery overlooking the Pyrenees. It will move to being air conditioned at the same time – another nod to combatting those increasing summer temperatures.
Thursday saw us driving just over half an hour, to nearby Montséret, in the heart of the relatively newly-fledged Corbières-Boutenac cru region of Languedoc, to meet Pierre at his other estate: Château Ollieux Romanis (the name a nod to the olives grown on the land centuries before), where he began in 2000 with 60 hectares. This was an excellent opportunity for him to share his vision for Château Rives Blanques as he showed us around this beautiful site, already certified organic, with plans to go fully biodynamic here from the 2027 vintage (with Rives Blanques following suit in an estimated three years). Rich, sweet Carignan hung on the old vines and only a day or two off harvest, too tempting not to nibble on.
Pierre believes strongly in working with the land and minimal intervention; initiatives include increasing biodiversity by planting olives and other plants as well as working on reducing planting density. In the winter, sheep are allowed to roam the vineyards and beans are planted as a cover crop to help bind nitrogen into the soil. He’s also three years into an experiment of growing vines higher to create a canopy that will provide more shade to combat hotter summers (with the bonus that it is also easier to hand harvest). This canopy provides a precise 6-degree temperature decrease.
Where AOP Limoux is a predominantly white wine appellation, AOP Corbières-Boutenac is exclusively a red wine appellation. A short tasting here led to a unanimous show of Tanners hands in favour of importing a Christmas parcel of the delicious Sans Détour (under the Artisans Partisans label), a Carignan predominant blend with proportions of Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre and Syrah in the mix. This is a rich red, stuffed full of red fruits, plums, Christmas spices and a chocolaty finish – one to enjoy fireside or with roast beef.
Our final stop before the airport was the state-of-the-art distribution centre, a very impressive end to our visit with its vegan waxes used on the bottling line, automated pallet racking system and whizzy pallet wrapping machines.
Final thoughts…
Limoux has historically had a thoroughly undeserved reputation as a region of bulk wine and low quality; however, our trip proved nothing of the sort and provided only evidence of real quality, pure expression of terroir and most importantly for our customers, excellent value for money across the board. If your usual go-to is a white Burgundy, you certainly won’t be disappointed with the Tres Pech (or ‘baby Puligny’ as it has been referred to on occasion!) adorning your Christmas table this year.
Blanquette de Limoux 2445 Brut, Château Rives-Blanques 2023 (organic)
Comprising hand-harvested grapes from low yields - the world's oldest sparkling wine. With the 2023 vintage seeing an extension to 24 months lees ageing, this is an excellent Champagne substitute, offering a fine mousse with notes of baked apple pie, brioche and a biscuity finish. The ripeness of the fruit means zero dosage is required.
Château Rives-Blanques L'Eden, Chenin Blanc, Limoux 2024 (organic)
Ripe peach and tropical fruit notes complemented by a spicy note courtesy of discreet Francois Frères oak. Lively yet elegant with a streak of lemon verbena on the super long finish.
Château Rives-Blanques Tres Pech, Chardonnay, Limoux 2024 (organic)
Very Burgundian in style this is full of creamy fruit with notes of roasted pineapple, spice and a touch of minerality and delicious citrus fruit, good freshness and balance with a long fresh finish.
Château Rives-Blanques Conservatori, Mauzac Blanc, Limoux 2022 (organic)
Found almost exclusively in Gaillac and Limoux, Mauzac is a rare, heritage grape. A delicious food wine: wild garrigue, citrus and pear on the nose, then lovely and creamy in the mouth, firm stone fruit, finishing with a touch of beeswax and vanilla.
